Enjoy, laugh, disagree or simply empathize with those who lived life in THE sixties and are now rockin' life in THEIR sixties, and beyond.

Shame on Zoomer magazine’s April cover

When I opened my mailbox today (the old-fashioned kind – at the front of my house) I went nuts. There on the cover of one of my favourite Canadian magazines, the April 2014 edition of Zoomer was the picture of Andie MacDowell, an American celebrity who has no place getting this kind of print space in an intelligent publication for and about people associated with the Canadian Association of Retired People. In a country of 35 million fascinating people, could Zoomer not find a single interesting Canadian to feature? How about me? I’m also “smokin’ haute at 66”!

The accompanying article, “earth angel” references the Canadian connection as being MacDowell’s role in Cedar Cove, a Hallmark adaptation of Debbie Macomber’s book series of the same name that was filmed in Vancouver—a somewhat tenuous connection to justify the space. Putting celebrities on the covers of magazines like Zoomer and my favourite women’s publication, MORE always annoys me to no end. Both mags are a cut above the usual print fare and I am disappointed when they go for the cheap shot. Celebrities like Andie MacDowell are perfect for gossip publications like People or Us or any number of other American celebrity rags but not Zoomer, despite the fact she’s 56 years old. I’m disappointed, angry and insulted that they would stoop to such cheap tactics as the picture of a common American celebrity to attract buyers on the newsstand. Shame on you. There are thousands of more interesting personalities I would prefer to see profiled.

As a snowbird, we find it impossible to get news about Canada and Canadians when we are in the United States. The American media is totally focused on what goes on only within the U.S. borders. The rest of the world is incidental – unless its politics involve the United States. I’ve actually met people in Florida who had no idea where Toronto is. It’s hard to believe that in this shrinking world full of amazing, exciting and interesting characters, there is still so much focus on American celebrities. And if anyone shares my feelings, make yourself heard.

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As an early Baby Boomer, born in 1947, it seems to me that as we approach our retirement years, Boomers have gone from being the energy driving our nation to slowly becoming invisible. We risk losing our identity as society remains stubbornly youth-centric. And the irony is that Gen Xers and Ys are not the majority; we are. BOOMERBROADcast is my platform for being the voice of Baby Boomers, women in particular. We've generated a lot of changes over the decades but there's still a long way to go. After a 40-year career in the corporate world, I've taken up expressing the observations and concerns of our generation. Instead of pounding the pavement in my bellbottoms with a cardboard sign, I'm pounding my laptop (I learned to type on a manual typewriter and old habits die hard).
If you have issues or concerns you would like voiced or have comments on what I've voiced, I'd love to hear from you. We started breaking the rules in the sixties and now that we're in our sixties it's no time to become complacent. Hope you'll stay tuned and if you like BOOMERBROADcast, share it with your friends.
Let's rock n' roll!
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Lynda Davis

8 thoughts on “Shame on Zoomer magazine’s April cover”

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I second your thoughts Lynda. I like Zoomer mainly for Moses Znaimer’s column. Frankly, I think the whole layout is a little too much like “People” or “Us” but then Znaimer comes out of the media realm so I guess I shouldn’t expect much else.

And as a guy nearing his 75th celebration of life, I have a hard time equating 50 somethings with the Zoomer life, even if I did retire when 56.

I agree (although not as passionately as you, because I am not retired, and do not get the magazine ) I think this rant would look good on the Letters to the Editor page of Zoomer. It might prevent a similar occurance next month